The talks, which featured CEO Frehiwot Tamiru and BII Managing Director Christopher Chijiutomi, reportedly revolved around sustainable infrastructure and the state-owned operator’s role in the digital economy, particularly through its Telebirr mobile money platform, data centers, cloud services, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Frehiwot expressed Ethio telecom’s openness to partnerships that can help it scale the goals under its “Next Horizon” digital strategy, according to a statement issued following the talks.

“Both leadership teams discussed and emphasized the importance of supporting their shared vision by mobilizing impact investment to accelerate the implementation of the Next Horizon strategy, with strong emphasis on advancing the digital economy, expanding inclusive fintech ecosystems, and developing climate-resilient digital infrastructure,” reads the statement.

Ethio telecom reported 85 billion Birr in revenue over the first half of the fiscal year. Telebirr accounted for 4.1 billion Birr, with the platform facilitating transactions valued at nearly two trillion Birr during the period.

BII was established in 1948 as the Colonial Development Corporation, which was tasked with improving agriculture in British Colonies. It was later renamed the Commonwealth Development Corporation, and in 2010, came under heavy criticism for abandoning its development finance mandate for a purely profit-driven model.

UK officials rebranded to BII again in 2022, though the institution is still criticized for prioritizing profit over development goals and poverty reduction.  

A statement issued by the Ministry announces that fuel trucks have begun making their way from Djibouti to Addis Ababa today, while more are expected to follow to regional towns and cities tomorrow. The statement does not specify the volume of fuel being transported into the country

The announcement will come as a relief to truck and public transport drivers, who have spent much of the last several weeks queued up at pumping stations.

The diesel crisis has already had a noticeable impact on food and commodity prices, particularly on fresh produce, while the government raised diesel retail prices by nearly 17 percent to 163.09 Bir per liter earlier this month.

Multiple reports indicate the supply disruptions have also spurred activity in the illict fuel trade, with unlicensed dealers in the capital reportedly offering diesel and gasoline at nearly double the price

Meanwhile, talks between the US and Iran have stalled after eight weeks of fighting, casting serious doubt over the resumption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Massad Boulos, US senior advisor for Arab and African Affairs, has indicated the Trump administration’s intentions to begin lifting sanctions on Eritrea, according to an article published in The Wall Street Journal this week.

The developments come as Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthis threaten to close the Red Sea’s Bab Al-Mandeb strait to maritime traffic in response to the US-Israeli war in Iran.

The plans are not yet official, but Boulos told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Monday that the US would begin lifting sanctions on Eritrea soon, The Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying.

El-Sisi is facilitating talks between Isaias Afwerki’s government and Washington, which has maintained targeted financial sanctions on the ruling PFDJ and other Eritrean entities since 2021, largely due to Asmara’s involvement in the two-year war in Tigray.

Although Eritrea has a long history of sanctions, the UN and European Union (EU) lifted their embargoes on the country in 2018, amid what appeared then to be a normalization of relations with Ethiopia and other neighboring countries.

Normalization, however, did not last long. The governments of Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afwerki had a falling out in the immediate aftermath of the Tigray war, in which the Eritrean military took an active role and is reported to have committed grave rights violations.

In October 2024, Eritrea, Egypt, and Somalia forged an alliance aimed at bolstering regional security and checking Ethiopian influence. The agreement came as Ethiopia and Somalia were caught in a dispute over the former’s maritime access-for-recognition agreement with breakaway Somaliland.

Egypt has since deployed troops in Somalia, while the Ethiopian government’s push for sea access via the port of Asseb has pushed tensions with Eritrea to the brink of another conflict.

US District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston said the decision to end TPS, enacted by the US Department of Homeland Security in December 2025 on the grounds that Ethiopia no longer posed a threat to people returning safely, ignored statutory procedures and ongoing conflicts.

The ruling comes following the filing of a lawsuit by three Ethiopian nationals and African Communities Together, a civil organization championing the rights of African immigrants in the US.

Murphy concluded that DHS disregarded the statutory procedures Congress enacted that govern TPS and provided a “pretextual” rationale for ending protections granted to people from Ethiopia, where “armed conflict ​and natural disasters continue to create dangerous conditions.”

The judge’s statement corresponds to a travel advisory issued by the US embassy in Addis Ababa this month urging all US citizens to reconsider travel to Ethiopia due to unrest, crime, kidnapping, terrorism, landmines, communications disruptions, and exit bans.

“Fundamental to this case—and indeed to our constitutional system—is the principle that the will of ​the President does not supersede that of Congress,” Murphy wrote. “Presidential whims do not and cannot supplant agencies’ statutory obligations.”

The TPS program began in 1990 and initially applied to migrants from the nearby states of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras, but has since expanded to cover many other countries.

As of March 31, 2025, the US had granted TPS to approximately 1.3 million individuals from 17 countries. These designations are made based on severe conditions in each nation.

For example, Afghanistan was designated due to the severe humanitarian crisis and ongoing conflict following the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021. Somalia is included because of widespread violence, threats from Al-Shabaab, famine, disease, and extreme weather. Honduras first received TPS in 1999 after Hurricane Mitch devastated the country. El Salvador was designated in 2001 following a series of devastating earthquakes.

Today, Ethiopia is one of a dozen countries under TPS, alongside Sudan, South Sudan, and Yemen. Approximately 1.3 million people live in the U.S. with TPS, and while Ethiopian immigrants account for only a tiny portion of the total, the consequences of the termination are dire for many.

The US Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over whether the Trump administration can revoke TPS for more than 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians living in the US later this month.

The voter registration period for the 7^th national election was initially scheduled to close on April 6, 2026, but the Board said the extension was necessary to compensate for time lost due to technical and logistical challenges encountered during the process.

In a statement issued today, NEBE noted that while it had planned to rely on online systems for both voter and candidate registration, the rollout faced setbacks. In areas where voter registration was intended to be conducted using online technology, the Board said additional time was required to address network-related issues, inspect the registration process, and ensure the system’s reliability and efficiency.

Although candidate registration was concluded on February 23, 2026, challenges affecting the voter registration process required further adjustments.

The Board indicated that constituencies initially assessed as having sufficient network coverage were later found to have inadequate connectivity, forcing officials to shift to manual registration methods in several areas.

Transport-related challenges also contributed to delays, with disruptions affecting the timely delivery of registration materials to various constituencies.

NEBE stated that the extended timeline runs until April 22, excluding two public holidays.

This week, a tribunal constituted under the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) dismissed all claims tied to the case, which concerned regulatory measures adopted by the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) requiring that lease agreements be denominated in Birr rather than foreign currency.

The claimant had challenged the measure, arguing that it interfered with its business model, which relied on US dollar-linked financing.

In a comprehensive ruling, the three-member high level tribunal, chaired by Lucy Reed, with Matthew Gearing KC and Sean D. Murphy (PhD) and seated in the Netherlands, unanimously rejected all of the claimant’s allegations. The tribunal found that Ethiopia’s regulatory framework was a legitimate exercise of governmental authority aimed at ensuring pricing transparency and consumer protection, particularly for low-income agricultural communities who are primary users of lease-financed equipment.

The claimant argued that the Birr-denomination requirement undermined its ability to manage currency risk and amounted to indirect expropriation, as well as violations of the fair and equitable treatment standard and non-discrimination obligations.

Ethiopia, in turn, demonstrated that the regulation did not prevent cost recovery or profitability, as financial institutions remained free to structure pricing through interest rates and other mechanisms, while ensuring that end-users could clearly understand the actual cost of lease agreements.

The tribunal agreed with Ethiopia’s position, holding that the measure neither constituted expropriation nor breached the fair and equitable treatment standard. It further found no evidence of discrimination and affirmed that the regulation pursued a legitimate public policy objective consistent with Ethiopia’s regulatory framework.

In addition to dismissing all claims, the tribunal awarded Ethiopia two-thirds of the arbitration costs, underscoring the strength of the state’s defense. Ethiopia was represented in the proceedings by Zewdineh Beyene Haile (PhD), Prof. Won Lemma Kidane, and Jackson Shaw Kern of ALG LLP alongside the Ministry of Justice. The claimant was represented by Enhance Arbitration B.V.

The award is likely to be seen as an important affirmation of regulatory autonomy in the financial sector, particularly in emerging markets seeking to balance investor protections with consumer transparency and financial inclusion.

 This victory came within a span of less than a month of another victory that Ethiopia obtained in The Hague in an arbitration case involving Akgun Insaat Makina Sanayii ve Dis Ticaret Ltd. Sti., a Turkish construction and machinery firm that had secured a large plot of land for industrial development near Addis Ababa’s freshwater sources.

Concerns about contamination eventually led Ethiopian authorities to block development on the plot, and the Turkish firm took the case to the Hague, demanding half a billion dollars for what it claimed was unfair expropriation.

A tribunal recently ruled that the Ethiopian government had acted within its rights.

Observers note that at a time of continued global efforts to reform the investor-state arbitration system, Ethiopia’s success in these cases  could be viewed as demonstrating the complexity of the legal regime and the need for a careful appraisal.

In a statement released today following the committee’s sixth meeting, regulators put the headline inflation rate for February 2026 at 9.7 percent, attributing success in taming inflation to tight monetary policies in place since August 2023, including a cap on bank credit growth.

However, the central bank warns that the war in Iran and closure of the Strait of Hormuz could undo progress.

“…the Committee noted that recent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East will exert upward pressure on global oil prices and will create disruptions in supply chains; thereby posing increased upside risks to the domestic inflation outlook,” reads the statement.

The price of a barrel of crude has jumped to nearly USD 110 since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran began last month, pushing fuel costs to their highest levels since 2022.

The statement cites 9.2 percent GDP growth in 2024/5, lauding a tenfold increase in contribution from the booming gold mining industry and a balance of payments surplus last year and the first eight months of the current fiscal year.

The committee urged the NBE board to approve its recommendations for continued tight monetary policy, including keeping credit growth caps in place.

It will reconvene in late April to “evaluate whether additional policy measures are required,” according to the statement.

The New Investment Incentives Regulation tabled by officials at the Ministry of Finance and ratified by the Council this week, introduces mandatory performance agreements as part the government’s new approach to incentivizing investment.

Under the previous regime, incentives were often granted based on the sector of operation, such as allowing companies in remote areas to import specialized vehicles duty-free. In contrast, the new regulation dictates that benefits are only sustained if investors meet specific, pre-negotiated targets regarding capital employment, job creation for Ethiopian nationals, and the successful transfer of technology.

Another highlight is the introduction of an investment capital allowance, which allows for a one-time deduction based on the cost of capital assets, and significant exemptions from the Minimum Alternative Tax, Dividend Tax, and Capital Gains Tax for qualifying projects.

These benefits are specifically geared toward large-scale operations, as the law sets a high bar for eligibility, generally requiring a minimum capital investment of USD 10 million for most enterprises.

The regulation is the first to feature terms for startups, which are eligible for a reduced income tax rate of five percent for 10 years.

Oversight and compliance have also been drastically tightened under the new decree. To prevent the leakage of duty-free goods into the local market—a serious flaw that defined the old system—the new regulation mandates that investors submit certified evidence every three months proving that all imported materials were used for their designated projects.

It imposes strict accounting standards, requiring investors to maintain separate books for each incentivized project in a bid to ensure total transparency.

The regulation also sets incentive terms for scientific research, investors who can generate half of their own energy demand (renewably), and businesses engaged in the carbon trading market.

 The Ministry of Mines has handed out three fresh concessions for potash, iron ore, and gold in a move its officials hope will translate into two billion dollars in investment and a milestone for their ambitions to erect a fertilizer production plant in the Somali region.

On Friday, the Ministry, led by Habtamu Tegegne, granted a license for potash extraction to Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), while an obscure China-based firm secured a novel iron ore concession, and Bero Mining, a local outfit, was handed a gold concession.

In January, The Reporter confirmed that EIH, the sovereign wealth fund overseeing giants like Ethiopian Airlines and Ethio telecom, had secured the rights to a 365 square kilometer potash reserve on the north-eastern border tip of Dalul Woreda, Afar.

Around 200 kilometers from Assab, official documents suggest the site could potentially hold a massive volume of potash, which is a crucial component for the production of artificial fertilizers.

EIH placed an application for a commercial mining license from the Ministry in July 2025, one month before the government’s investment arm signed a shareholders’ agreement to develop, construct, and operate a large urea fertilizer production complex in Gode, Somali Regional State, in partnership with Nigerian multinational Dangote Industries Limited.

Under the partnership structure, EIH will hold a 40 percent equity stake while Dangote Group will maintain 60 percent ownership of what promises to be one of the largest industrial investments in Ethiopian history.

Friday’s announcement is a milestone for the project, securing the potash necessary for fertilizer production.

Meanwhile, ZYT BDIM, a Chinese firm about which little is known, nabbed iron ore extraction rights while Bero Mining will be the newest entrant in a commercial gold mining industry characterized by delays, obscure ownership structures, and subpar production.

The details of these concessions remain undisclosed, but sources say Bero will be based in the gold-rich Benishangul-Gumuz region.

As for ZYT, industry insiders who spoke to The Reporter say the country lacks the infrastructure to support commercial iron ore mining, despite Ethiopia’s estimated 1.1 billion tons in deposits. They explain that Ethiopia does not have the railroad network required to move the massive volumes of ore involved in a commercial project.

The assembly also voted to replace Behanu’s deputy, Yohannes Mekonnen—chair of building construction at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development—with Nigatu Wolde.

The changes at the top are in line with party rules, which limit terms to five years.

EZEMA also published its manifesto for the upcoming seventh national election during the emergency meeting in the halls of the Adwa Victory Memorial today.

EZEMA currently holds four of Parliament’s 547 seats.